Journal of New Discovery in Microbiology

Microbes including bacteria play an important role in their habitat, some roles are known, and yet others are to be discovered. These bacteria are known to be present in several ecosystems and environments including glaciers and oceans on the earth. The bacteria present in the salty water of the ocean and sea are termed bacterial halophiles due to their ability to grow in saline environments and are important in the regulation of this environment of the sea. However, all the beneficial activities of these halophiles have not been reported yet. In the present investigation, we studied the bacterial halophiles of the Arabian Sea in India, at two locations. At least 3 distinct bacterial halophiles were present in Arabian Sea water at Mumbai, while 5 distinct bacterial halophiles were present in the same Arabian Sea water at Dahanu beach in Palghar district. Based on their salt tolerance limit, these were moderate halophiles (8 % salt tolerance) and extreme halophiles (25 % salt tolerance) and were observed to be of different colony morphology at these locations. These were found to have a beneficial activity viz. to increase the pH (i.e. decreased the acidity in the range of 0.36-0.82) and decrease in electrical conductivity (EC: in the range of 0.46 – 0.88) of its saline growth medium. These bacterial halophiles were tested for their ability in the rectification of saline soils under in vitro studies. It was apparent from the result that the isolates of bacterial halophiles were capable of lowering the EC of saline soil, although not to the level of the required EC (<4) of normal cultivable soil. Therefore, further studies are required on the use of halophiles to achieve a lower EC of <4 in saline soils to make these suitable for crop cultivation. The use of bacterial halophiles in salt-affected soils for their reclamations can be a new area in microbial research.